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(ABC News) Interesting Obese Americans fear the development of a nutritional Nanny State on this side of the pond   (abcnews.go.com) divider line 238
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FlyingPig [TotalFark] 2009-01-11 10:10:19 AM  
If government healthcare becomes a reality, you can bet your ass there will be oppressive laws restricting what you can and can't eat, drink, breathe, and whatnot.

When the government is paying for your healthcare, don't you think they're going to want to cut costs as much as possible?

 
zymosan [TotalFark] 2009-01-11 10:13:09 AM  
FlyingPig: If government healthcare becomes a reality, you can bet your ass there will be oppressive laws restricting what you can and can't eat, drink, breathe, and whatnot.

When the government is paying for your healthcare, don't you think they're going to want to cut costs as much as possible?


Just like those poor, oppresses bastards in Canada.

 
Green Discharge 2009-01-11 10:16:52 AM  
zymosan: oppresses bastardshiatting the bottle already?

 
exick [TotalFark] 2009-01-11 10:19:03 AM  
FlyingPig: When the government is paying for your healthcare, don't you think they're going to want to cut costs as much as possible?

Well if there's one thing governments are known for, it's keeping spending levels down.

 
sirgrim [TotalFark] 2009-01-11 10:19:04 AM  
Naw we'll just tax fatties.

 
GaryPDX [TotalFark] 2009-01-11 10:23:24 AM  
Fatties are fat, everyone knows that. But they aren't stupid.

 
GaryPDX [TotalFark] 2009-01-11 10:24:10 AM  
exick: FlyingPig: When the government is paying for your healthcare, don't you think they're going to want to cut costs as much as possible?

Well if there's one thing governments are known for, it's keeping spending levels down.


It's not about spending, it's about power and tyranny.

 
GaryPDX [TotalFark] 2009-01-11 10:26:39 AM  
zymosan: Just like those poor, oppresses bastards in Canada.

Have you looked at England lately? And Canadians come to America, every day, in droves, to take care of medical issues they have to wait years for in Canada.

 
Sleeping Monkey [TotalFark] 2009-01-11 10:28:04 AM  
Fat people increase the costs of all health care, Universal or not.

 
inebriated brain 2009-01-11 10:28:49 AM  
ahh how great it will be to be taken care of owned by the government.

 
CanisNoir [TotalFark] 2009-01-11 10:33:48 AM  
Sleeping Monkey: Fat people people who breathe increase the costs of all health care, Universal or not.

FTFY

To sit there and think that any one group increases the cost to all others disproportionallly to me is pretty funny. How many beers does the skinny person drink over the course of their life? Do they jog? Because that places unwarrented stress on certian bones that normally wouldn't be affected - riding a bike? Again, different portions of the body. You type on a keyboard?

I'm sorry but focusing on the smokers, or the fatties is just another way to divide us and another way for the Fed to increase it's powerbase and grab some money through law suits.

 
Sleeping Monkey [TotalFark] 2009-01-11 10:36:48 AM  
GaryPDX: Have you looked at England lately? And Canadians come to America, every day, in droves, to take care of medical issues they have to wait years for in Canada.

Meanwhile, those who can't afford to come to America still get health care.

 
GaryPDX [TotalFark] 2009-01-11 10:39:38 AM  
Sleeping Monkey: GaryPDX: Have you looked at England lately? And Canadians come to America, every day, in droves, to take care of medical issues they have to wait years for in Canada.

Meanwhile, those who can't afford to come to America still get health care.


And people get who are poor and can't afford it get emergency care by law here, so technically, everyone already is covered. But again, it's not about health care, it's about power, tyranny and money.

 
Sleeping Monkey [TotalFark] 2009-01-11 10:41:58 AM  
GaryPDX: And people get who are poor and can't afford it get emergency care by law here

Canadians are coming to the US in droves for Emergency Care?

 
Weaver95 [TotalFark] 2009-01-11 10:42:54 AM  
zymosan: FlyingPig: If government healthcare becomes a reality, you can bet your ass there will be oppressive laws restricting what you can and can't eat, drink, breathe, and whatnot.

When the government is paying for your healthcare, don't you think they're going to want to cut costs as much as possible?

Just like those poor, oppresses bastards in Canada.


we're not Canada though, are we? our response to 9/11 was to ban water bottles on planes. I could see our 'universal health care' going off the deep end and doing equally stupid things. Consider all the calls we have right now for draconian control: "make seatbelts mandatory, they lower my insurance rates." or the ever popular "smoking raises my insurance costs, lets ban it".

I just do not trust the government to behave itself. And I will not give them any more opportunity for control over my life or over YOUR life. Sure, you might die earlier but you will die FREE!

 
FarkinNortherner [recently expired TotalFark] 2009-01-11 10:44:46 AM  
Other countries with universal healthcare are already restricting individual freedoms in the name of controlling health costs. For example, the British government has banned some television ads for eggs on the grounds that they were promoting an unhealthy lifestyle.

I was unaware that ITV, Channel 4, Five, GMTV, Sky, IDS, Turner, and Viacom were owned by the British government, as it was the self-regulatory body they founded that held that health claims were being made in breach of their guidelines.

It's reasonable to assume that they founded the body in order to avoid further government interference in their trade, but that applies in innumerable fields and does not imply 'the government says...'

This is a blatant infringement of egg sellers' rights to advertise their products.

No, it's a regulation of their ability to make demonstrably false claims of health-giving properties.

Is ABC a News International company ?

 
GaryPDX [TotalFark] 2009-01-11 10:45:06 AM  
Sleeping Monkey: GaryPDX: And people get who are poor and can't afford it get emergency care by law here

Canadians are coming to the US in droves for Emergency Care?


No..elective surgeries. Things they have to wait for up there.

 
bronyaur1 [TotalFark] 2009-01-11 10:45:24 AM  
If I have to pay for your health care, I then have something to say about your health habits.

That is all.

 
FarkinNortherner [recently expired TotalFark] 2009-01-11 10:48:32 AM  
bronyaur1: If I have to pay for your health care, I then have something to say about your health habits.

How do you think health and freedom giving (yeah, right) insurance works ?

 
JoeBagadonutz [TotalFark] 2009-01-11 10:50:00 AM  
CanisNoir: I'm sorry but focusing on the smokers, or the fatties is just another way to divide us and another way for the Fed to increase it's powerbase and grab some money through law suits

You sound like a fat smoker. (Sorry, but I had to.)

 
Sleeping Monkey [TotalFark] 2009-01-11 10:50:46 AM  
GaryPDX: No..elective surgeries. Things they have to wait for up there.

Meanwhile, those who can't afford to come to America still get health care.

 
Kasira [TotalFark] 2009-01-11 10:52:05 AM  
GaryPDX: Sleeping Monkey: GaryPDX: Have you looked at England lately? And Canadians come to America, every day, in droves, to take care of medical issues they have to wait years for in Canada.

Meanwhile, those who can't afford to come to America still get health care.

And people get who are poor and can't afford it get emergency care by law here, so technically, everyone already is covered. But again, it's not about health care, it's about power, tyranny and money.


And then there's the working poor, and the lower-middle class, who don't qualify for any free health care, but still can't afford it.

I don't want the government telling me what to eat, either. I'm not fat, I take care of myself, but I want be able to have McDonald's for lunch once in a while. I shouldn't be denied that just because some fattie can't control their eating habits.

/Just kidding, I go to Whataburger.

 
dionada [TotalFark] 2009-01-11 10:52:56 AM  
Weaver95: Sure, you might die earlier but you will die FREE!

Good point. I guess it depends what you value more, your life or your liberty. Of course, both are usually taken for granted until they're in jeopardy.

 
GaryPDX [TotalFark] 2009-01-11 10:54:46 AM  
Weaver95: I just do not trust the government to behave itself.

Neither do I and neither did the Founders. It amazes me how many people have lost the warnings and dangerous aspect of trusting a government. It's not like civilization havn't addressed many of the issues we deal with today already. Time and again, governments get too much power and then they turn tyrannical and oppressive. It happens every single time, power corrupts, absolutely.

 
dionada [TotalFark] 2009-01-11 10:56:05 AM  
Kasira: And then there's the working poor, and the lower-middle class, who don't qualify for any free health care, but still can't afford it.

And when they do need it, they have to wait until it's life-threatening to get "free" medical care at the local ER.

/protip: just because they're required to treat (well, stabilize) you, doesn't mean it's free; they'll still send you bills

 
Coronach 2009-01-11 11:00:35 AM  
Just wait for the obesity spike when everyone is having nicotine withdrawals once we clean up all of this third hand smoke that's layin' around.

 
Winktologist [TotalFark] 2009-01-11 11:06:15 AM  
Sleeping Monkey: Fat people increase the costs of all health care, Universal or not.

You know who else increases health care costs?

Sick people.

We should make that illegal, too.

 
Sleeping Monkey [TotalFark] 2009-01-11 11:14:37 AM  
CanisNoir: To sit there and think that any one group increases the cost to all others disproportionallly to me is pretty funny. How many beers does the skinny person drink over the course of their life? Do they jog? Because that places unwarrented stress on certian bones that normally wouldn't be affected - riding a bike? Again, different portions of the body. You type on a keyboard?

Winktologist: You know who else increases health care costs?

Sick people.

We should make that illegal, too.



"Health care costs for smokers at a given age are as much as 40 percent higher than those for nonsmokers"

"For obese people, spending on hospital and outpatient care is 36% higher and medication costs are 77% higher than for people in a normal weight range"

To say that these two unhealthy groups of people, whose choice it is to live these lifestyles, does not raise health care costs is simply daft.

 
CanisNoir [TotalFark] 2009-01-11 11:15:19 AM  
JoeBagadonutz: You sound like a fat smoker. (Sorry, but I had to.)

i371.photobucket.com

Because nothing says "I'm not a fat farker" like a LoL cat ;)

 
CanisNoir [TotalFark] 2009-01-11 11:17:21 AM  
Sleeping Monkey: To say that these two unhealthy groups of people, whose choice it is to live these lifestyles, does not raise health care costs is simply daft

And to say Cubicle Monkeys don't suffer carpul tunnel at a higher rate, increasing health care costs to all by their choice of profession, is just daft - what's you point? Or do you advocate we have a Cubicle Tax, a Jogger's Tax and a Large Rack Tax (Because we al know those big boobies cause back problems)

 
Its_A_Tarp 2009-01-11 11:17:49 AM  
FlyingPig: If government healthcare becomes a reality, you can bet your ass there will be oppressive laws restricting what you can and can't eat, drink, breathe, and whatnot.

When the government is paying for your healthcare, don't you think they're going to want to cut costs as much as possible?


No, there won't be laws against it.

They will just refuse you treatment.

 
knucklebreather 2009-01-11 11:21:08 AM  
Just charge for health care by the pounds you are off from your ideal BMI. Anorexics and fatties need more medical care, so they should pay more. Bodybuilders... uh... you're SOL, sorry. maybe we can get healthcare to cover roids.

 
Sleeping Monkey [TotalFark] 2009-01-11 11:22:42 AM  
CanisNoir: And to say Cubicle Monkeys don't suffer carpul tunnel at a higher rate, increasing health care costs to all

imgs.xkcd.com

 
Schadenfreude ist die schoenste Freude [TotalFark] 2009-01-11 11:22:47 AM  
FlyingPig: If government healthcare becomes a reality, you can bet your ass there will be oppressive laws restricting what you can and can't eat, drink, breathe, and whatnot.

When the government is paying for your healthcare, don't you think they're going to want to cut costs as much as possible?


No, you can still eat and drink whatever the hell you want.

But if you get fat or develop scirosis as a result, don't expect the government to pick up the tab.

 
angryjd 2009-01-11 11:23:16 AM  
Subby, you sound fat.

 
atomic-age [TotalFark] 2009-01-11 11:24:21 AM  
GaryPDX: Sleeping Monkey: GaryPDX: Have you looked at England lately? And Canadians come to America, every day, in droves, to take care of medical issues they have to wait years for in Canada.

Meanwhile, those who can't afford to come to America still get health care.

And people get who are poor and can't afford it get emergency care by law here, so technically, everyone already is covered. But again, it's not about health care, it's about power, tyranny and money.


Depends on what you consider "emergency" to be. Heart attack? Sure.

Mental health or dental care? Not so much.

 
Cinletharwi 2009-01-11 11:24:39 AM  
Wow, two fat-bashing-baiter threads at once.

I didn't buy enough popcorn for this much frothing hate in one day. I need to go to Sam's and buy it in bulk.

 
ConnieLingus 2009-01-11 11:25:11 AM  
I believe some European countries are beginning to have an obesity problem yet, lo and behold, they still have universal health care. "Universal health care" is not a one size fits all proposition. Much like democracy.

 
HoneyDog 2009-01-11 11:26:44 AM  
You can count on bans on alcohol too, after alcohol has a very detrimental affect on health, weight included.

That aside. I wonder how the Japanese deal with the Sumo wrestlers?

 
All Apologies 2009-01-11 11:28:04 AM  
Essentially, the local nanny state is subsidizing obesity in the US. The massive farm bills that are passed every year make the ingredients for junk food incredibly cheap, because of this, it is far cheaper for people to buy the kind of food which makes them obese.

People complain about the high cost of fruit, vegetables, organic foods, and other foods considered to be healthy? It's because we use tax payer money to subsidize growing corn, which then gets processes into just about every other kind of food you can imagine.

We have a reverse nanny state here that encourages people to eat junk by making it cheap. If that money were redirected to make quality food cheaper, people would start buying food of a higher quality.

That's one theory I've heard recently anyway.

 
ConnieLingus 2009-01-11 11:28:36 AM  
And I'm sorry, but healthy foods initiatives do not amount to "government control."


"Nanny state regulations and universal healthcare thus feed a vicious cycle of increasing government control over individuals. Both undermine individual responsibility and habituate citizens to ever-worsening erosions of their individual rights. Both promote dependence on government. Both undermine the virtues of independence and rationality. Both jeopardize the very foundations of a free society.

The American Founding Fathers who fought and died for our freedoms would be appalled to know their descendants were allowing the government to dictate what they could eat and drink. The Founders correctly understood that the proper role of government is to protect individual rights and otherwise leave men free to live - not tell us how many eggs we should eat. "


I'm sorry, but don't invoke the founding fathers to back up your case to eat at McDonalds every day.

 
b-maz 2009-01-11 11:28:55 AM  
GaryPDX: Some Canadians might go down to the states for surgery, but it's still paid for. So what if we have to wait, it's still free and guaranteed to all citizens rich or poor, healthy or sick.
Now what is wrong with that?

 
atomic-age [TotalFark] 2009-01-11 11:29:12 AM  
knucklebreather: Just charge for health care by the pounds you are off from your ideal BMI. Anorexics and fatties need more medical care, so they should pay more. Bodybuilders... uh... you're SOL, sorry. maybe we can get healthcare to cover roids.

Not "anorexic" But my BMI is 15. That's a long way from ideal BMI.

Of course, BMI is a bullshiat value. It doesn't make allowances for outliers.

Fining me for not having an ideal BMI is pointless and counterproductive. I'm healthy and hardworking. Thin as a rail and possessed of sharp knees, but extremely productive in the workplace. I'm not costing the taxpayers a thing.

 
CanisNoir [TotalFark] 2009-01-11 11:29:41 AM  
HoneyDog: That aside. I wonder how the Japanese deal with the Sumo wrestlers?

They get the hot chicks.

/Co-worker is a major Sumo fan, it's a rather funny sport imho.

 
CanisNoir [TotalFark] 2009-01-11 11:31:08 AM  
Sleeping Monkey: CanisNoir: And to say Cubicle Monkeys don't suffer carpul tunnel at a higher rate, increasing health care costs to all

Are you trying to say that someone who types day in day out in their job isn't at a higher risk for Carpul Tunnel than someone who doesn't type much at all on a daily basis? I mean common sense will tell you as much; I can't help it if nobodies managed to pull grant money to research it yet - They've been too focused on the Fatties and the smokers.

 
HoneyDog 2009-01-11 11:31:19 AM  
They get the hot chicks.

But they are still fatties.....to the extreme no less.

 
SynthLord 2009-01-11 11:31:37 AM  
Kasira: I'm not fat, I take care of myself, but I want be able to have McDonald's for lunch once in a while.

Impossible. This is Fark.

You're either a model, or you're a whale - there is no in between.

Fatty.

 
knucklebreather 2009-01-11 11:31:41 AM  
Now that you can't buy prepared foods with trans fat, I kid you not, my obese coworker has bought a deep fryer and can make fries, onion rings and apparently even donuts with all the trans fatty goodness he craves. I think trans fats are like crack to obese people or something.

Personally, I think obese people are going to get their fix somehow or other... we tell them their obesity isn't their fault, that they're genetically predisposed... so when we remove one bad food, they either eat higher quantities of unhealthy, but still legal, foods to compensate, or they go to absurd lengths like my coworker. They are convinced they're genetically meant to be fat, remember.

 
rose8199 [TotalFark] 2009-01-11 11:32:12 AM  
CanisNoir: And to say Cubicle Monkeys don't suffer carpul tunnel at a higher rate, increasing health care costs to all by their choice of profession, is just daft - what's you point? Or do you advocate we have a Cubicle Tax, a Jogger's Tax and a Large Rack Tax (Because we al know those big boobies cause back problems)

You are way off. Yes, those other conditions are costly, but obesity trumps them all. Let's just look at diabetes.

In North America, diabetes costs $136,815,507 a year. What's the number one cause of diabetes? That's right, obesity. What's stunning is the comparison of those costs compared to other parts of the world. Europe lags slightly at $80,520,020, because they aren't quite as fat as North Americans (yet). But the rest of the worlds' costs all together don't even add up to what Europe pays.

http://www.eatlas.idf.org/Costs_of_diabetes/Calculated_cost_estimates/



And by the way, fat people get more joint replacement surgery than runners. I'd also LOVE to see the total cost of caring for carpal tunnel disorder per year. My guess is that it's a tiny fraction of diabetes.

 
All Apologies 2009-01-11 11:34:34 AM  
Why Americans Keep Getting Fatter (new window)


This contradiction may play a role in today's obesity epidemic and is in part driven by a counterintuitive farm policy, highlighted by the farm bill, which is up for renewal this year in Congress. This legislation began during the Depression to protect farmers against environmental disasters and plummeting crop prices but has evolved into a massive program of handouts, largely benefiting agribusinesses. Worse, it promotes vast overproduction of crops that are the building blocks of calorie-dense, nutrient-poor, processed junk foods. It has become a "food bill."

For a half-century, the farm bill served farmers and the public well by regulating supply and stabilizing food prices. In 1973, it was overhauled to significantly increase crop production. According to the USDA Economic Research Service, the U.S. food supply has since ballooned by 500 calories per person per day, and per capita food consumption has increased by more than 200 calories per day -- the equivalent of more than 20 pounds of fat per year.



We have a retarded system that spends money promoting healthy food, while at the same time wastes money subsidizing junk food.

Thanks farming lobby!

Subsidizing Junk Food (new window)

 
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